Chicken laying late in the day and doesn't dig her nest box

[fmernyer]

My run is kinda makeshift and not attached to the coop - so going back into the coop to lay isn't an option. By 10:30 two are laying so I've been in the habit of waiting till then to let them into the run. Now there's a third layer and she's been going about 1:30! I don't want to keep them cooped up until 1:30 in the afternoon. I put a cat carrier into the run with some bedding and a golf ball. She knows that's where to lay but I don't think she loves it. If I pull her out of the run and put her back in the coop she'll lay right away...but I cant rely on that as a means of getting her to lay - just not practical.

What do people do? Wait until everyone lays? (Hardly seems fair to the chickens) Do I need to find a nesting box they approve of? (even in the coop they lay behind whatever box I've tried - the cat carrier and a mini milk crate)

Thank you!

 

[galanie]

I wouldn't sweat the time. Just let them out and leave the eggs already laid alone till everyone has laid an egg. Could be that it'll see the eggs already there and lay in the nest. If not, well, at least it's not hard to find that one odd egg.

 

[fmernyer]

Thank you!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Remember, it takes a hen about 25 hrs to make an egg. She should lay a little later each time she lays, even into early evening. My neighbor has 27 hens and last one is laying around 7pm right now. She should be "resetting" herself back to mornings in the next few days. Hope this info helps.

 

[KYTinpusher]

Up until recently, I had the same situation as you - the coop not attached to the run. I use 5 gallon buckets with most of the lid cut out as nesting boxes. They are easily moved, so we would put them in the coop each night and back out into the run with the chickens each day. It didn't make much difference what time we put them out, they always had their favorite bucket available to lay in (and of course 4 of them always want the same bucket at the same time!) Just make sure you build some kind of rack for the buckets so they don't roll around. As a bonus, they are easy to clean out.

 

[fmernyer]

I'm gonna try different nest boxes for them besides the cat carrier - yesterday I got two eggs in the coop before I let them out...and expected two more....and didn't get them...one of the escapees may have left an egg under a bush but she'd have to be a quick layer - my kids were chasing after her to get her back in the run! lol